how long does the parent have to go with NO contact in order for child abandoment laws to take effect? The only time the mother calls her son is when we call her, or contact her to have her call her son.....it has been almost 3 months since her last phone call.....my step son hasnt heard anything from her since then...she doesnt pay child support....she doesnt do ANYTHING for him.....she has visitation rights to my step son but she doesnt follow the court order & get him during their parenting time.....the father is wanting me to adopt him, my step son said he wants me to adopt him.....how do we go about doing this?

Mom would have to be willing to give up her rights or a court would have to terminate them after a hearing once the father files. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.

If you are asking if there is a codified rule that sets a specific amount of time, no, there's not. The court looks at the overall circumstances of the particular case in question. 3 months, however, isn't anywhere close to any case I've ever heard of.

Even 3 YEARS won't bother the court if SOME level of contact is occurring, regardless of who initiates the contact, even if only by phone. If 6 months goes by and you're not able to contact her, THEN you might go get a free consultation with a family law attorney to get a feel for what your local courts may think.

Has she been ordered to pay support? What has been done to enforce any order regarding support?


Visitation is a right, not an obligation. Custody orders don't mandate that a parent MUST use their time, only that the time must be AVAILABLE if the parent chooses to exercise it.


If mom is willing to go along with the adoption, then abandonment isn't relevent. If she'll cooperate, the process will go MUCH faster, be much less problematic, and much less expensive. If mom contests the adoption, then unless she can be proven to be unfit or ruled to have completely abandoned the child (EXTENSIVE period of no contact by ANY method), then an adoption is unlike to occur.

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